Author Archive for john
Gianni Andrews, Author and Community Relations Manager

Gianni bought a Peugeot; champagne gold with sew-up tires in 1976 and has been an addict ever more. Think Magnus Backstead without the big engine. A man who loves to suffer on a long cruel climb and catch all the wee folk on the descent.

Reverence: Campagnolo Tools

by Gianni / Jan 23 2013 / 23 posts

Exposure to religion in my youth was by way of a brief dose of sunday school at the local Unitarian church. The point there, evidently, was to learn about other religions and turtles. If a point was being made, I missed it. When Catholic friends of mine came over for the weekend I would accompany them to the closest Catholic church and we would end...

Insight on Rule #34

by Gianni / Jan 11 2013 / 67 posts

Rule #34-Mountain bike shoes have their place-on a mountain bike.During our very recent Cogal I gained some on-the-road insight on Rule #34. We were on a part of the route I have never ridden on a bike and had no memory of. The pavement was pavé, Maui-style. Somewhere deep down below the surface of the road was primordial road, patched with onl...

The Sunday Morning Reasonable Ride

by Gianni / Jan 2 2013 / 52 posts

I rousted Frank early. The Sunday morning group ride rolls out at 6:30 am from Twin Falls. As I put bikes in the truck  I saw a sky full of stars, a good indicator for a beautiful morning ride. I have been crazed to show Frank our local Sunday morning group ride and now he was on Maui it was finally going to happen. It is a Casually Deliberate rid...

Reverence: Lezyne Tyre Levers

by Gianni / Dec 19 2012 / 75 posts

Two summers ago my wife and I had the pleasure of visiting friends in Switzerland. The country is so expensive that I took home only two souvenirs: white Assos socks and a pair of Lezyne tyre levers. I assumed Lezyne was a European company. It was in this Swiss bike shop and I’d never seen the brand in an American store, ever. “Ewwww,...

The Tubeless Enigma

by Gianni / Dec 5 2012 / 73 posts

There must still be a few readers out there who have not followed the Dutch Monkey down the merry tubular path; for them I offer an update on an alternative. Road tubeless has been lauded as the best thing to happen to cycling since the introduction of seatpins. These have been around for years but the road version has not gathered the expected mom...

Meditations on the V-Meter

by Gianni / Nov 14 2012 / 117 posts

There was no need for Rule #74 until the cyclometer showed up on our handlebars. According to the late Sheldon Brown, the cyclometer has been around since the early 1900s.“Star-wheel cyclometers, such as the Lucas unit, suffered two serious problems. They made an annoying “tink-tink-tink” noise. At high speeds, the star wheel would s...

Awesome Almost Belgian Guys: Alex and William

by Gianni / Nov 7 2012 / 36 posts

Recently we had a photo of Yates on the stones. Two days later, it was the killer photo of Boonen getting down to business. Until then, Frank’s photo from that day was the best photo ever but @Harminator’s shot is better. Tom tosses the squeezed bidon. The glove-less Belgian is already on his own- it’s business time. I’ll be...

Cogal Report: Scottish McCogal 2012

by Gianni / Nov 4 2012 / 68 posts

The first Velominati Scottish Cogal is in the books. Organized and supported by Clan Engine, it looked to be a beautiful Scottish day on the bikes. V-kits and Casually Deliberate in Callander, this Cogal thing is catching on. VLVV, Gianni …...

Choose Your Parents Wisely

by Gianni / Oct 26 2012 / 71 posts

Evelyn Stevens was working on Wall Street four years ago and is now the best American women cyclist. How is that possible? Her parents must be enjoying dinner with pulses of 40 bpm and sky high VO2 maxes. Are they both professional marathon runners? Is that how they met? Maybe they have never attempted aerobic sports. If Evelyn has siblings and the...

Velominati Super Prestige-Paris Tours 2012

by Gianni / Oct 6 2012 / 152 posts

The final race of the 2012 Velominati Super Prestige season is upon us. It’s not the most inspiring race, supposedly a race for the sprinters. The long straight final run in to the finish line begs for a mass sprint. It should be called Châteauneuf-en-Thymerais-Tours. The route is 235.5 km of small rollers through the French countryside. The...
Older Articles